“He’s not ready” – De Zerbi defends one attacker and criticises another after Spurs fail to shoot on target

Roberto de Zerbi has given an update on the progress Mykhailo Mudryk is making to full fitness, and threw in some criticism of another talent.

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Tottenham have started their season with no goals (and no wins) in their first three games, and today’s draw with Nottingham Forest was another slightly disappointing showing from one of this summer’s big spenders.

Roberto de Zerbi defended his team’s performance after the game, and was asked in particular about some of his attackers, who failed to summon a shot on target in the game.

Mykhailo Mudryk came on to play 20 minutes for his Tottenham debut on loan from Chelsea, and first up the manager was asked about what he made of the Ukraine international’s efforts.

Mudryk makes Spurs debut; Tel criticised

“He’s not ready yet. He’s working to reach the best physical condition. He needs time, he needs work,” De Zerbi explained.

“In that position, we have Mathys Tel, big potential. But also Mathys takes too many wrong decisions, and Mudryk. So, two big players, two big potential players.

“But anyway, if we want to score, I think Marmoush has 15 goals. Solanke, the chance header for Solanke, I consider a chance to score. It’s not a shot on goal. But how many shots did Nottingham have today? I think, anyway, it was a good game.”

It’s classic De Zerbi – defend his favourite while taking a random swipe at one of his other players. Whether he and Tottenham end up figuring things out or not, it looks set to be a juicy season in terms of frama.